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Monday, July 30, 2012

Monster Monday: Beast-men

Beast-menNo. Appearing: 2d6 (1d6x10) [30-300]Alignment: Neutral or ChaoticMovement: 12Armor Class: 6 [14] <16>Hit Dice: 1Attacks: WeaponSave: 17Morale: 9Hoard Class: XIXHDE/XP: 1/15Beast-men are horrid combinations of man and animal originally created by the demon prince known as the Horned One; however, the secret of their creation has spread throughout the World and thus they are found in the service of cultists, wizards, and Old Gods.They appear as wiry humanoids with the heads of animals. They often roam the wild places of the world stark naked. They seem to either have sickeningly withered genitals or no genitals at all, and it would appear that there are only beast-men. Some scholars theorize that the process by which they are created masculinizes any women unfortunate enough to be put through it. If beast-men do wear clothing, it is typically bloodstained and scavenged or made from tanned human skin. They’re weapons and armor are also either taken from human victims or made from sharpened bones.The most common varieties in the Dark Country are deer-men, goat-men, and pig-men. It is rumored that horse-men exist, but reports of this type are relatively scarce. Beast-men divide themselves into tribes based on the type of head they have, and thus deer-men will not consort with pig-men and vice versa. Each tribe is either headed by either some sort of conjurer - perhaps an Old God, diabolic cultist, or magic user - or a Beast-man with 4 HD. For every 10 beast-men in a tribe, there is a 30% chance that one of them will be an anti-cleric or druid, depending on the alignment of the tribe. These have 1d4 HD and can cast spells as an anti-cleric or druid of a level equal to its number of HD.There are two possible ways to create beast-men. The first is the spell Create Beast-men. The second are strange, ink-black pools scattered throughout the Dark Country. Anyone submerged in these pools must make a saving throw each round or become a 1 HD beast-man with no memory of their former life. Beast-men not in the service of a sorcerer or cult tend to make their lairs near these pools. The pool always turns the victim into a beast-man of the same type as the tribe that lives nearby. The origin of these pools remains a mystery, but most scholars agree that it must be one of the horrid bodily fluids of the Horned one.Create Beast-menSpell Level: C6 M6Range: 240 ft.Duration: PermanentThe caster may either select either a single target of any level/HD or a group of targets of a level/HD of 4 or lower. If a group is selected use the chart below to determine how many are affected.

Victim’s HD

Number Affected

>1 to 1

2d6+3

1+ to 3

2d6

3+ to 4+1

1d6

Targets affected must make a saving throw or undergo a sickening transformation that will turn them into 1 HD beast-men in 1d6 rounds. If a Remove Curse spell is cast on them before this process is completed, they can be saved. Otherwise, the effect is permanent.Newly created beast-men have no memory of their former lives and are filled with the desire to fulfill their master’s sickening will. Whether their master is the caster or the power which he or she serves is left to the referee.

Woah, this is seriously similar to how I have been handling orcs recently. They have several in-game names, including beastlings and cauldron spawn. I even have the threat of transformation into beastlings as a game hazard too. They are not so tied to individual animals as yours are, nor have I spelled out the gender consequences so clearly (I like that though; nice touch).

One question: why is the creation spell level so high? I like to have mid level casters creating beastlings as potential threats too, though I suppose demonic patrons could always supply cultists or sorcerers with scrolls or whatever.